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Execs rank Sox 2nd-most improved team

In sizing up the major league landscape at the offseason’s midway point, ESPN.com senior baseball writer Jayson Stark polled executives around the league, asking them to identify the five teams that improved themselves most and the five that have done the least to help their chances in 2013.

Not surprisingly, the Blue Jays topped the first list after trading for three starting pitchers who averaged 209 innings apiece last season (R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson), a dynamic leadoff man (Jose Reyes), a guy who hit .346/.390/.516 (Melky Cabrera) before testing positive for a banned substance and two players (Emilio Bonifacio and Maicer Izturis) who give them the depth and versatility they lacked in 2012.

"I give them a lot of credit," one NL executive told Stark. "They recognized that right now, the Red Sox and Yankees aren't the Red Sox and Yankees. The AL East isn't the AL East like it used to be. They saw a window of opportunity, and they're going for it. A lot of teams never take that swing. At least they took it."

Perhaps more surprising was the team that executives think improved itself the second-most in baseball: The Boston Red Sox.

Eh.

"I'm really surprised by what they've done, or haven't done," one AL executive told Stark. "With the momentum they had going into the offseason and the resources I thought they had financially, I don't think anybody would have been surprised if they'd gotten in on something big."

Missing from either list are the New York Yankees, who re-signed Hiroki Kuroda, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Ichiro Suzuki and added Kevin Youkilis to help shore up the left side of the infield in Alex Rodriguez’s absence.

They may very well be the "2nd most improved tam", but how tough can that be when spending miles over anyone else? It's a matter of how wise you spend your ressources.
No doubt, we're going to be right around +/- .500 team next year, cannot be worse than last years team with a gazillion of injuries.
And if we somehow get Napoli for 2 years, I can live with each FA signing except Victorino. I have no idea how you could give that guy a 3 year deal. He's someone you don't want on your roster in 2015.

They may very well be the "2nd most improved tam", but how tough can that be when spending miles over anyone else? It's a matter of how wise you spend your ressources.
No doubt, we're going to be right around +/- .500 team next year, cannot be worse than last years team with a gazillion of injuries.
And if we somehow get Napoli for 2 years, I can live with each FA signing except Victorino. I have no idea how you could give that guy a 3 year deal. He's someone you don't want on your roster in 2015.

Worst case scenario were overpaying a 4th outfielder in 2015, but he won't stop us from making other moves so he really won't be a problem.

good to see were moving in the right direction but its easy to show improvement after coming in 5th place in your division.. the jump from bad to average should be an easy transition for the sox what really matters if they can get themselves high on this list again next year and make the jump from average to contender

We have improved a lot on paper. Let's see if it translates onto the field for next year.

With the deepest of regrets I am announcing that I will be leaving Pro Sports Daily. No reason in particular but wanted to thank everyone for a great 6 years here. Lots of great discussion and good poll series as well. Also fun re-drafts. Best of luck to you all in the future.

another under covered story behind a lot of the sox moves is the fact that their not only improving their roster but their locker room as well. have read a few things about guys like dempster and victorino being great teammates and locker room guys. seems to be a big factor in moves being made. great moves by BC cleaning up that locker room and literally building a TEAM from inside-out. This alone could have much bigger impact on our record at the end of next year than any of the individuals we have added.

another under covered story behind a lot of the sox moves is the fact that their not only improving their roster but their locker room as well. have read a few things about guys like dempster and victorino being great teammates and locker room guys. seems to be a big factor in moves being made. great moves by BC cleaning up that locker room and literally building a TEAM from inside-out. This alone could have much bigger impact on our record at the end of next year than any of the individuals we have added.

I don't buy this. Punto and Ross were "good clubhouse guys" but we still lost 93 games. Because our pitching was terrible.

Shoot, removing Bobby Valentine and shedding those Yankee-esque contracts should put us at #1 IMO. A lot of fans keep waiting for us to improve our SP or solidify the top of the lineup but it's not gonna happen. We aren't trying to build a clear-cut WS Champ for 2013, we're fielding a team that has enough talent to be competitive and if all goes right, be a playoff contender, which I believe we will. This is a holdover roster...we are going back to building.

Only in Boston can we rebuild w/o looking like we are rebuilding. God, I love it.